BBC: Arguments against capital punishment

A timeless article with a breakdown of the arguments given in favor of abolishing (or against reintroducing) the death penalty. Wide ranging perspectives on why the death penalty should be abolished all succinctly stated and often quoting revolutionary philosophers.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Example: “Brutalising Individuals”

“Statistics show that the death penalty leads to a brutalisation of society and an increase in murder rate. In the USA, more murders take place in states where capital punishment is allowed. In 2003, the murder rate in states where the death penalty has been abolished was 4.10 per cent per 100,000 people. In states where the death penalty is used, the figure was 5.91 per cent. These calculations are based on figures from the FBI. The gap between death penalty states and non-death penalty states rose considerably from 4 per cent difference in 1990 to 44 per cent in 2003.

Disturbed individuals may be angered and thus more likely to commit murder.